The Internet, which is a human centered connectivity network where humans generate and consume information, is now evolving to the Internet of things (IoT) where distributed entities, such as things, exchange and process information without human intervention. The Internet of everything (IoE), which is a combination of the IoT technology and the big data processing technology through connection with a cloud server, has emerged. As technology elements such as sensing technology, wired/wireless communication and network infrastructure, service interface technology, and security technology have been demanded for IoT implementation, a sensor network, a machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), and so forth have been recently researched.
Such an IoT environment may provide intelligent Internet technology services that create a new value to human life by collecting and analyzing data generated among connected things. The IoT may be applied to a variety of fields including smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car or connected car, smart grid, health care, smart appliances, and advanced medical services through convergence and combination between existing information technology (IT) and various industrial applications.
With the recent growth of IoT technology and market, the number of IoT devices is steadily increasing. In addition, it is increasingly necessary for a user to select and collectively control the operation of a plurality of IoT devices or external devices located in a specific area by using a portable electronic device such as a smart phone or a tablet PC or using a wearable electronic device such as a smart watch or a smart band. In this case, the user often suffers inconvenience of having to individually select and control such IoT devices or external devices. Further, as the number of devices to be controlled increases, a lot of time to control such devices is required or inconvenience of having to repeat the same operation many times is caused.